International journal of dental hygiene最新文献

Objectives: To explore the Malaysian dental therapists' perceptions regarding the provisions concerning them in the new dental act and potential market changes, considering their current career motivations and expectations.

Methods: Dental therapists from two major public dental organisations in the East-Peninsular Malaysia (n = 26) were invited to participate in an audiotaped semi-structured interview using a pre-tested topic-guide informed by workforce policy and research literature. The qualitative data were transcribed and analysed using Framework Analysis.

Results: The research conducted with dental therapists (n = 26) identified four motivation domains namely 'altruism', 'personal and academic inspiration', 'profession characteristics' and 'career advising and social influences' as key factors motivating their choice of a professional career as dental therapists, influenced by work-life balance and financial stability. They were also aware of the new dental act and its potential implications, particularly regarding their future career expectations. The majority felt the necessity 'to improve their skills and knowledge' within the first 5 years as part of their short-term career plans. A few participants expressed a desire to 'pursue a higher level of education' and 'wished to join the private sector' in the long-term. They perceived the possibility of 'working in the private sector' to increase their income and believed that they did not require any additional training for such a transition.

Conclusion: Malaysian dental therapists welcomed the changes in the new act, which allow them to work across sectors. Many perceived themselves as adequately motivated and equipped to transition to different work settings without requiring additional training.

Objective: To explore, as a part of oral health literacy conceptual content, how migrant mothers utilise oral health-related information to maintain and promote oral health in their children.

Materials and methods: In-depth interviews were conducted with seven migrant mothers of children up to 10 years old resettled in Kalmar County, Sweden. The mothers had entered Sweden from 2015 onwards, and their native language was Somalian, Dari or Arabic. The participants were encouraged to describe their experiences seeking oral health information and oral health in general and dental health services. The interviews were analysed by qualitative content analysis with coding in categories, followed by formulating a main category.

Results: The findings revealed a main category-combining different ways of information utilisation. The main category captures the essence of the migrant mothers' various ways of using oral health-related information in the Swedish context to maintain and promote oral health in their children. The main category draws upon four sub-categories that emerged from the analysis: cognitive processing, decision-making competencies, adapting to social norms and practical application.

Conclusions: The results provide an important insight into migrant mothers' approach to utilisation of oral health-related information. This approach distinguished being rational and making logical connections, believing in their capacity to know what is right for their children and acting based on these beliefs, as well as adapting to prevailing social norms and applying information in specific use. This knowledge can be used to support parental oral health actions and conduct further research in this area.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of systematic oral hygiene instruction in improving oral hygiene knowledge and to practice and control oral plaque, among periodontal patients.

Methods: A total of 407 patients were recruited, with 205 in the experimental group and 202 in the control group. Participants in the experimental group received professional dental examination, cleaning tools and instruction of oral hygiene practices. The patients in the control group received conventional educational guidance. Two follow-ups with 7-10-day intervals were conducted after the baseline examination.

Results: Compared to those in control group, the plaque index of participants in the experimental group was significantly improved after the intervention. Moreover, participants' behaviours, including brushing twice or more a day, brushing more than 2 min, skill in using dental floss and brushing before going to bed, significantly improved after receiving professional systematic oral hygiene guidance (p < 0.001). Significant improvement was achieved in patients' oral hygiene knowledge, attitudes and practices (p < 0.001). Overall, 26.8% of the participants reached standard oral plaque control (plaque index ≤ 20%) in experimental group. Multivariable analysis showed that participants' old age and severity of illness had significant effects on plaque control.

Conclusion: Professional educational guidance is effective in maintaining good oral hygiene practices following periodontal management compare with conventional education. Oral health promotion interventions should be adjusted by age, severity of disease and the distal portion of the oral cavity.

Introduction: Poor oral health can influence an individual's dietary intake, which may result in malnutrition. Both problems in oral health and function and malnutrition are common in older people. The aim of the present study was to explore the associations between oral health and oral function and malnutrition in community-dwelling older people within three different databases.

Methods: Data analyses were performed on three existing Dutch databases (Interrai: n = 3876, LPZ: n = 966, PRIMa mouth CARE: n = 975). Logistic regressions (adjusted for age and gender) tested the relation between oral health and oral function (independent variable) and malnutrition (dependent variable).

Results: Problems in oral health and oral function such as broken teeth (OR: 1.43 [95%CI: 1.12-1.81]), oral pain and discomfort (OR: 2.58 [95%CI: 1.52-4.39]), chewing difficulties (OR: 1.99 [95%CI: 1.54-2.57]), swallowing problems (OR: 6.63 [95%CI: 2.85-15.42]), coughing (OR: 6.05 [95%CI: 2.08-17.61]) and food adaptations (OR: 5.46 [95%CI: 2.60-11.4]) were found to be significantly associated with malnutrition in older people.

Conclusions: This study demonstrated a significant link between oral health problems and oral function with malnutrition in community-dwelling older people. Oral health care and healthcare professionals need to consider oral health and oral function in relation to nutritional status and vice versa in community-dwelling older people.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the correlations between knowledge, fear, infection control practices, and attitude of dental staff in Korea.

Methods: This study was conducted to investigate the correlation between COVID-19-related knowledge, fear, and infection control attitudes and practices.

Results: COVID-19-related knowledge was significantly correlated with infection control attitudes and practices (r = 0.204, p < 0.010), and infection control attitudes and practices were significantly correlated with knowledge and fear (r = 0.214, p < 0.01).

Conclusions: It was confirmed that most Korean dental staff are acquiring correct knowledge about COVID-19 and are showing relatively stable infection control attitudes and practices to cope with it.

Objective: To determine the association between Peruvian children toothbrushing and head of household educational attainment.

Methods: Cross-sectional study with two-stage, probabilistic, stratified, balanced and independent sampling. The independent variable was the highest level of education of the head of household, and the dependent variables were general toothbrushing, daily toothbrushing and toothbrushing at least twice a day; the co-variables were: wealth index, health insurance tendency, natural region, area of residence, place of residence, sex and age. The National Institute of Statistics and Informatics website was accessed to download and merge databases using STATA 15.1. The statistical analysis included descriptive, bivariate (chi-squared) and multivariate (Poisson regression) tests with a 95% confidence level and p < 0.05.

Results: The higher education level of the head of household presented a positive association with general toothbrushing (RPa: 1.04; 95% CI: 1.03-1.06; p < 0.001), adjusted for the variables natural region, area of residence, place of residence, altitude, wealth index, health insurance, sex and age.

Conclusion: Having a head of household with higher education is positively associated with children practising general toothbrushing, compared to those whose parents only completed an elementary education level.

Aim: To evaluate an interprofessional learning (IPL) session involving dental hygiene students and nursing students and to investigate the nursing students' oral health-related knowledge and attitudes.

Material and method: First, a questionnaire about knowledge and attitudes regarding oral health was answered by 84 nursing students. After an IPL session, including dental hygiene students and nursing students, both groups completed an evaluation questionnaire.

Results: Both student groups stated that the IPL had led to an increased understanding of each other's professional roles and the importance of collaboration. Among the nursing students, 67.9% rated their knowledge about oral health as good/fairly good. Only 15.5% rated their knowledge about gum diseases as good/fairly good and 44% their knowledge about caries as good/fairly good. Additionally, 48.8% fully agreed/agreed that they felt secure performing oral care on care recipients. The nursing students had received little or no oral health-related education.

Conclusion: For nursing students, the IPL has led to an increased understanding of how oral diseases can be detected, prevented and treated. For the dental hygiene students, the IPL session has led to an improved capability to discuss oral health and oral care with another profession and to a better understanding of the nurse's role regarding oral healthcare. Both student groups have increased their awareness of the importance of future interprofessional collaboration. IPL about oral health and oral care should be integrated more broadly into dental hygiene and nursing education.

Objectives: This study aimed to analyse the 2010-2018 cohort data of the National Health Insurance Service to examine the association between applying sealants in the first molars of children and their early dental impairment.

Methods: Based on the two-level mixed effect model (individual four teeth), the study participants were divided into two groups: those with sealants on all four first molars and those without sealants to determine the association between sealants and early impairment. We analysed teeth that had undergone extraction or canal filling to determine early impairment.

Results: The rate of early impairment in the first molars was approximately 7.4 times lower in the sealant group (0.65%) than in the non-sealant group (4.83%). Early impairment of first molars was higher in females, medically cared for and in rural populations. It was also higher in the maxillary first molars (3.7%) than in the mandibular first molars (3.49%), in more rural areas, and in lower household income groups. In generalised linear mixed models, first molars with sealants were 14.9% less likely to have early impairment than those without sealants (p = 0.000).

Conclusions: The study findings suggest that applying sealants on the first molars is important to prevent early dental caries development and prolong the functional integrity of first molars. In addition, we found that maxillary first molars were more susceptible to early impairment than mandibular first molars, even when sealant was applied.

Objectives: Empathy has been an essential competency in the clinical training of dental students and plays an important role in building relationship with patients. It has been found that gender and age may influence these empathetic responses; however, the findings vary across the literature. This study aims to investigate if age, gender and type of undergraduate dental training have a dependent relationship with the level of empathy.

Methods: The participants' empathy levels were measured using the Jefferson Scale of Empathy for Health Professional Students and reported as a total score. The data were analysed using an independent t-test to compare the means of age and gender with level of empathy. An ANOVA test was used to evaluate the mean difference between dental science, dental hygiene and dental nursing students and their level of empathy.

Results: Most of the 57 participants were females (82%). Only 10 males participated and were all members of the dental science. The male students had a higher mean empathy level (110.6) than their female peers (109) (p = 0.733); participants aged 19-23 years had a lower mean (108) empathy level than their peers aged 24 and older (114) (p = 0.113); discipline empathy levels in dental science and dental hygiene were similar (111), with a lower mean level in dental nursing (106) (p = 0.233).

Conclusion: The study did not demonstrate a statistically significant difference between age, gender or discipline of undergraduate training with level of empathy. However, the results showed that age and gender have some influential relationship and should be investigated further to guide development of the educational curriculum in dental undergraduate training.

Objective: To investigate the association between oral hygiene status and psychological factors among foster adolescents in Recife.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out in Recife in 10 shelters for adolescents aged 10-17 years. After obtaining ethics approval, the adolescents were clinically examined. Their oral hygiene was recorded using the simplified oral hygiene index (OHI), and they were asked about their oral hygiene and visits to the dentist. They were also asked about anxiety, depression and stress (DASS-21). The results were statistically analysed using the chi-squared and Fisher's exact test or odds ratios, as appropriate.

Results: Eighty-one adolescents, of whom 56 were males and 25 were females, participated in the study. They had been admitted to shelters 2-6 months before because they had been neglected and/or abandoned and/or were homeless. Only 8.6% had visited a dentist in the previous 12 months. Seventy-eight (94%) had access to toothbrushes and toothpaste and performed daily oral hygiene. Seventy-one (88%) reported anxiety, 69 (85%) depression and 74 (91%) stress. There was no association between these three factors and OHI. Several factors, including the region of origin (p = 0.434) and time living in the shelter (p = 0.0303), were associated with stress.

Conclusions: Attention should be given to adolescents living in shelters to ensure their good oral hygiene and regular visits to the dentist, especially those who have suffered abuse/violence/exploitation. They must also be given mental health assistance.